#instajustice2014 @Riverdale Community Day

Community is integral to Riverdale Country School. Every year, the Riverdale Middle School spends a day focusing on the importance of the many elements of a community. From guest speakers to workshops, students learn a variety of ways to take action against injustice and to promote equality in society.
In 2012, the Riverdale Middle School community day theme was “We live the dream from passion to action.” Students watched a video reflecting on The March on Washington as it was the 50-year anniversary. Students also learned about the people that were important to The March and how their actions affected African-American rights today.
The following year, the theme was voice. Students learned the importance of voice and how it is expressed through photography, music videos, ...

Community Day- (In)Visibility

Every year, the Middle School has a day dedicated to improving the communities we live in: our school, our city, our country, and the world. Last year, we focused on our voice and how we can communicate our ideas and problems with our peers. I learned a lot, and I was inspired to take a stand. Since then, I have become more confident in what I do!
This year, we are adding on to the idea of voice and the this year’s theme is (in)visibility and the social media. Our guest speaker, Raquel Reichard, talked about the positive power of social media. Now I know that I can share my ideas through social media. My peers and I also saw how ...

#InstaJustice14

Last year was community day 2013. It was about voice and expressing yourself vocally. This year is community day 2014. This year is about voice, but not vocally, online. Expressing yourself online can be easier than vocally. A few taps and clicks and you have posted something that can never be deleted, ever. With that in mind doesn't it make you a little hesitant to start a blog or express yourself online? Yeah, sure, but there is also the chance that you gain a little awareness, and from that little amount of awareness you could manage 200,000 signatures. Also, as a 12 year old at Riverdale Country School, I know that no matter how old you are you

Mini Course in Feminism

I wrote the following blog posts as my final project for a mini-course in feminism that I took this semester.
I wish it were socially acceptable to say that I am a feminist. Because I am. And the word “feminist” has such a negative connotation and is associated with man-hating women who want special privileges based on gender. Right now, we are overwhelmed with the implicit message that we’re bitchy if we speak our minds because if we do that, we fail at our job of catering to everyone else’s needs. And heaven forbid we try to take leadership roles. If a man gives directions, he is a good leader, but we are bossy if we do the same thing. Oh, ...

Constructing Olympics

As the year is coming to a close, the 11th grade class had a chance to celebrate all our hard work in Constructing America with the Constructing Olympics. Every class and their teachers pair up to compete in games to ultimately determine which class is the champion of Constructing. This year, we played Jeopardy!, newlyweds with the teacher pairs, performed class skits, competed in a huge game of capture the flag, and ended the day with tug of war. Each class also gets to create their own shirts that they can design with inside jokes and funny pictures.
Through all the tears (literally), laughs and jokes, classes create such a strong bond throughout the year it feels like we all have mini Constructing families. And as you can probably imagine, the classes get ...

Reading with Children

Last Friday, the 9th grade, after a morning of activities, split up into three groups to do different community service activities. I chose to read and write with children, and I am very glad that I was able to have that experience. Each of us was paired with a child, and we read a fairy tale with that child and then wrote our own fairy tale in a little booklet. The child I was paired with was quiet, but he was an excellent reader and writer, and it was fun reading the story with him, having him read me a page and then reading one back to him, then asking him questions about the story. We read Cinderella, and he ...

Field Trip – Yay!

Today, my French class is taking a field trip to the Morgan Library's "Le Petit Prince" exhibit. Last year, in French III, we read Saint-Exupery's novel. I am excited to get off campus and to see the exhibit. It should be a lot of fun.

Shakespeare’s 450th Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Shakespeare! A faculty member organized a fun day of activities surrounding Shakespeare, including music from many of his plays, a birthday song written by a junior student, and many more. All of these activities are hosted by faculty members and all students are invited to watch (and in some cases, even participate). There are bake sales and auctions, from which all the profits will be donated to Oberlin's Children Shakespeare Project, run by a Riverdale student alumna. Shakespeare has influenced so many people with his work, it is nice to commemorate his life and all he has done.

The New (and Improved) ILS

Every year, the whole senior class takes ILS (Integrated Liberal Studies), a course unique to Riverdale's curriculum. It's definitely an experience that unifies the senior class because everyone has read about and discusses the same intriguing ideas. Just this year, in time for our class, ILS was changed so that it consists of 5 distinct themes. For the first four sections, we explored virtue, the self, the environment, and social justice in the context of our lives and society. For the last section, which is coming up soon, every senior is able to pick an "elective" taught by one of the ILS teachers. This is a really exciting opportunity because you get to read a book for fun with a ...

GLOW Assembly

Yesterday at assembly we all gathered together to hear some speeches about some student's experiences with their sexuality and their experiences with other's sexuality. (GLOW is an affinity group; GLOW is an acronym that stands for Gay, Lesbian Or Whatever.) Though I do enjoy hearing from guest speakers during assemblies, it was nice to really see how articulate and passionate about the topic some of the student speakers were. The stories they told were fascinating and diverse and really showed the wide array of feelings that people have about sexuality. My friend, Tasfia Shawlin, had a speech about the differences between her mother and herself on their opinions about different sexualities and the reasons why their opinions differed. It really ...

About the Student Blog

Welcome to the Riverdale Student Blog! Written by the students themselves, this blog serves as a peek inside the life of your not-so-average Riverdale students. We hope you enjoy learning more about their lives and experiences!